Display bag



March 20, 1962 N. SCHER 3,026,016

DISPLAY BAG Filed Aug. 5, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 F-q I E .1. INVENTOR A/mhan dchef QBY g ATTORNEY March 20 1962 N. SCHER 3,026,016

DISPLAY BAG Filed Aug. 5, 1959 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 4 A/afham Saber? ATTORNEY March 20, 1962 N. SCHER 3,026,016

DISPLAY BAG Filed Aug. 5, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 '/(9 INVENTOR r Nmhan Jaher )1; H f Y 20 k 2 :3 23 Z ATTORNEY United States 3,026,016 DISPLAY BAG Nathan Scher, 402 Rugby Road, Cedarhurst, Filed Aug. 5, 1%9, Ser. No. 831,903

2 Claims. (Cl. 229-55) This invention is a novel packaging medium possessing all of the desirable features of both known flexible transparent bags and cardboard folding or set-up boxes, but is free of the undesirable features of each of them. It provides the visibility of a transparent bag and the rigidity of a box.

The display bag of this invention embodies, generally speaking, a semi-rigid backing of cardboard, plastic, or any other appropriate material. A sheet of transparent plastic, such as cellophane, Pliofilm, polyethylene, or any other appropriate transparency overlies the front face of this backing and is permanently secured in place to the backing to permit articles positioned in the bag to be readily observed for display purposes. My bag may be made with or without a header according to the particular use to which it is adapted.

Plastic bags have heretofore been made which, because of their flabby nature, require a separate rigid or semirigid insert to keep them properly distended to present a pleasing appearance when an article of commerce is positioned within the bag.

It has also heretofore been the practice to place saleable articles, such as hardware, foods, and the like, either loosely upon a backing or actually secured to the backing,

and thereafter cover said articles with a transparent facing glued to the backing to form a protective covering for such articles and to hold them in place on the backing.

This invention should not be confused with these prior practices for, according to the invention, the bag is made complete with a semi-rigid backing and the transparent facing, the parts being permanently secured together, but provided at some point with an entry opening through which the articles to be enclosed within the bag may be inserted. With my construction no extra insert card is required to hold the bag in shape and the bag is complete at the time the articles are inserted. My invention, therefore, not only materially economizes in the cost of the bag, but also greatly simplifies the packaging of articles therein.

The bag of this invention is initially made so that it will be flat when in completed condition. It is furnished in this condition to the packer who merely inserts an article therein, and may then utilize the bag without sealing or by mere folding and/or heat sealing, stapling or otherwise sealing the bag.

In the preferred form of this invention, the backing is preferably scored in spaced relation to its margins, so that, while it may be manufactured flat, the marginal portions of the bag may be upfolded along the score lines to give to the bag a box-effect better adapted to accommodate articles of appreciable thickness which would otherwise cause undue bulging of the transparent facing.

The present invention embodies numerous features of novelty which will he hereinafter more fully described and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate different practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions therein shown are to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of one form of bag embodying the present invention with an article enclosed therein and the bag sealed.

FIG. 2 is a section taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1 showing the bag flat without the article therein and be- 3,9Zbfilfi Patented Mar. 20, 1952 fore its upper portion is folded, as shown in FIG. 1, to seal the bag.

FIG. 3 is an edge elevation of the bag shown in FIG. 1 with the upper portion folded to seal the bag and simultaneously form a header thereon.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing a different type of fold, utilized to seal the bag and form the different kind of header.

FIG. 5 is a rear view of a modified form of bag wherein an article may be inserted into the bag through a slit in the semi-rigid backing of the latter.

FIG. 6 is an elevation of a bag similar to that shown in FIG. 1, but embodying a plurality of side by side compartments with a cut-out in the header to provide a handle for carrying the bag.

FIG. 7 shows a further modified form of bag according to this invention, wherein the bag is provided with a cover which may be folded over the transparent face of the bag to form a closure for the bag and to protect the transparent face against damage.

FIG. 8 is a section on the line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an edge elevation of another modified form of bag shown as made flat, but the longitudinal halves of which are adapted to be folded upon themselves to form a multi-compartment bag.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the structure of FIG. 9 folded as stated.

FIG. 11 is a section on the line 1111 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 shows another form of bag of this invention as it is manufactured flat but the backing of which is so scored as to permit it to be folded as shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 13 is a section on the line 13-13 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 shows the bag of FIGS. 12 and 13 in closed condition to house and protect one or more articles inserted therein.

In the construction of FIGS. 1-3, the bag is initially made flat, as shown in FIG. 2, to embody a backing 1 of rigid or semi-rigid material, such as hereinbefore referred to. The front face of this backing 1 is covered by a sheet 2 of plastic material, such as hereinbefore referred to, with the lateral and lower margins folded over the edges of the backing and adhered to the rear face of the backing in any appropriate manner. This folding of the margins of the front sheet 2 over the edges of the backing is preferred although, if desired, it may be marginally adhered to the front face of the backing. The sheet 2 may extend for the full height of the backing, but in the construction shown, the upper edge of said front sheet is located at the line 3, with a portion of the backing 4 which extends above this line constituting a so-called header on which appropriate advertising or other indicia may be printed. In FIG. 1, the header is shown as having a perforation 5 whereby it may be hung from any appropriate support for display purposes.

The upper edge of the front sheet 2 is left unattached to the backing so that an article, such as a magazine pencil P, indicated in dotted lines, may be inserted in the bag before it is sealed. The bag may be provided internally with a strip 6 cut from the backing and adapted to be engaged by the clip of the pencil. to hold the latter centralized in the bag. In lieu of the strip 6 a tape or elastic band may be incorporated in the structure for a like purpose.

The bag is manufactured complete and flat as shown in FIG. 2. An article may be inserted in this bag through the open top thereof and thereafter the upper portion of the bag may be bent upon itself, as shown in FIG. 3, and stapled or otherwise secured in this folded condition to seal the bag. Alternately, the upper portion of the bag may be folded as shown in FIG. 4. However, in some cases I may heat seal or otherwise close the open top of the bag and dispense with the folding thereof.

The structure of FIG. 5 is in most respects the same as that shown in FIG. 2, with the exception that all four margins of the front sheet are permanently affixed to the backing and the backing is provided with a slit or other appropriate opening 7 through which an article may be introduced into the interior of the bag. The upper portion of this bag may be folded or not, as desired.

The bag shown in FIG. 6 may be made according to either of FIGS. 1 or 5, the only difference being that the bag is made with three compartments adapted to individually receive articles and in lieu of the perforation 5 of FIG. 1, the header of a bag has a cut-out 8 serving as a hand hole for carrying the bag. The several compartments are isolated from one another by spaced apart zones of attachment 9 in which the front sheet is adhesively or otherwise secured to the backing.

in the constructions of FIGS. 7 and 8, the backing 10 is provided with a lateral extension 11 of substantially the same width as the backing it). The transparent front sheet 2 overlies the backing 1t and is marginally secured to said backing along three of its margins, but is left unattached to the backing along its margin which is contiguous to the extension 11. After an article, indicated in dot and dash lines, has been introduced into the bag through the open side adjacent the extension 11, said extension is folded over into face abutting relation with the outer face of the transparent sheet 2 and forms a cover therefor which protects the transparent sheet against damage. This form of the invention permits relatively extensive spaces for the printing of advertising matter. If desired, the cover 11 may be provided with an opening through which the contained article may be observed.

In the structure of FIGS. 91 1, the flat backing 12, at least twice as long as the height of the finished bag, is provided on one face with a transparent plastic sheet 13 marginally secured to the backing along its lateral margins only. The bag is thus made fiat as shown in FIG. 9. When it is to be used, its upper and lower halves are folded upon themselves along the line 14 to produce the multiple compartment bag shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. An article may be placed in each of these compartments with the articles in the two outer compartments visible for display purposes. If desired this construction may be provided with punched perforations 15, so as to permit the binding of this envelope in a loose-leaf binder as a single page with the articles at both sides of the sheet visible through the transparent facing and protected against soiling during handling of the page.

In the structure of FIGS. 12-14, the semi-rigid backing 16 is die cut to the shape shown in FIG. 12 and is provided with score lines 17 in spaced relation to its lateral edges with the score line 18 near its lower edge and with transverse score lines 19 intermediate its top and bottom. At its lower corners there are diagonal score lines 20. The transparent front sheet 21 extends upwardly from the bottom of the backing to the line 22. Slits 23 and 24 are formed in the assembly as shown. The bag is made flat as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13.

When it is desired to place an article in the bag, the marginal portions of the bag are bent at right angles to the main body portion of the backing, the lower corners are bent along the diagonal score lines 20 and the resulting composite tabs 29a are tucked into the slits 23, as shown in FIG. 14, to hold the upturned portions of the major portion of the bag in upstanding position. The article or articles are then introduced into the bag and the upper portion of the bag is then folded on the score lines 19 and tabs 25, formed adjacent to the slits 24, are passed through slits 26 to maintain the parts of the bag in closed position as illustrated in FIG. 14. The portion of the bag above the upper score line 19 will thus constitute a header 27 on which advertising matter may be printed, while the articles within the bag are visible through the transparent plastic front ply 21. When employed as shown in FIG. 14, my bag has all of the desirable fe-atures of the conventional fold-up box. In fact, it becomes a box bag.

The drawings show score lines only in the construction of FIGS. 12-14. However, score lines, spaced from the margins of the backing, may be applied to the backings of practically all forms of this invention, so that the marginal portions thereof may be tip-bended either manually or merely by the act of placing a bulky article in the bag, so that these bags may better accommodate thick articles. These bags thus provide the box effect as and when needed.

In all of the constructions which I have described the thin transparent plastic ply is adhered to the rigid or semi-rigid backing along appropriate margins. In some instances the four corresponding margins of these two parts are secured to one another while in other cases only three corresponding margins have such attachment. This attachment may be a face to face attachment attained by adhesives or heat sealing or they may be otherwise joined in the manner described. In any event the resulting bag will have a rigid or semi-rigid backing, faced on one side by an attached sheet of transparent plastic through which the articles to be displayed may be seen.

In all cases the bag may be fabricated complete in fiat or substantially fiat condition and is supplied in such fiat empty condition to the person who will introduce the articles to be displayed in the bag. Thus my invention is fundamentally a fiat bag, made complete before an article is introduced into it, in contradistinction to the building of the bag around the article. All that remains for the filler to do at the time of placing the article in the bag is to close the bag by sealing or otherwise, if desired, as hereinbefore described. No special machinery is required for this purpose and filling of the bags may be accomplished in a simple and expeditious manner.

The accompanying drawings illustrate different novel features as embodied in the several species illustrated, but it will be understood that I may employ these several features indiscriminately in the different embodiments of this invention and that some features may be used in each embodiment without necessarily employing all.

The foregoing detailed description sets forth the invention in its preferred practical embodiments, but the invention is to be understood as fully commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A display bag comprising: a flat semi-rigid backing, an overlying transparent front sheet permanently secured to the periphery of the backing and facially contacting the latter throughout while the bag is empty, the backing being provided with lines of scoring spaced from its peripheral edges toallow upbending of its margins to form a box bag.

2. A display bag according to claim '1, wherein certain upbendable margins are provided with slits adapted to receive portions of the other upbendable margins to hold said margins in upbended relation when said slits and portions are engaged with one another.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,614,635 Turner Jan. 18, 1.927 1,677,022 Deutschmeister July 10, 1928 1,907,675 Rosen May 9, 1933 2,626,626 Gilfillan Jan. 7, 1936 2,069,549 Hutt et al. Feb. 2, 1937 2,263,044 Mehl Nov. 18, 1941 2,298,421 Salfisberg Oct. 13, 1942 2,579,758 Rosenman et al Dec. 25, 1951 2,663,415 Roehm Dec. 22, 1953 2,757,793 Deitz Aug. 7, 1956 2,830,396 Gouland Apr. 15, 1958 

